Main menu

COTA files for Texas Event Trust Fund money

Lewis Hamilton crosses the finish line in the first racing event held at Circuit of the Americas in Austin last November. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

As reported in Autoweek last month, the Circuit of the Americas will seek new tax revenue through the Texas Event Trust Fund for several races scheduled at the track in 2013.

MotoGP will be the first race eligible for reimbursement under the fund. MotoGP’s economic impact is estimated at $25 million, according to Don Hoyt, who also prepared the estimate for Circuit of the Americas for Formula One.

Estimates for MotoGP hotels, food and beverage (including mixed beverage taxes), as well as rental cars and shopping are included in a $25 million economic estimate submitted on December 19, 2012, six days after the Austin City Council voted to support the circuit’s application.

The application itself seeks a little more than $2 million, $1.9 million of which comes from the state’s portion of the estimated tax revenue generated during the race.

Roughly half the attendees for the MotoGP race, scheduled for the weekend of April 19-21, are expected to come from Texas, with approximately 86,000 attending the race on Sunday, April 21. Total attendance over the three-day weekend at the Austin MotoGP is estimated at 161,000.

COTA collected $29.3 million from the state of Texas for the inaugural Formula One race held at the Circuit of the Americas this past November. While a full accounting of that race is expected to take up to 18 months, the first numbers in are promising. COTA was the top alcohol seller in November in Texas, according to the state comptroller’s office, selling $2.8 million in beer, wine and mixed spirits. Austin bars, restaurants and hotels sold nearly $50 million in alcohol during November.